April 18

HAS been exerting the concerted efforts to export the corn to China through the legitimate trade channel, said U Min Khaing, chair of Myanmar Corn Industrial Association.

At present, the corn industry is endeavouring to seek permits from the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC) and to meet the import food safety criteria. “To earn GACC certificate, a working task force including Myanmar Corn Industrial Association, Republic of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry has been formed. The task force calls for Expression of Interest (EOI) to apply for a GACC certificate. After the screening process, the documents of the applicants will be forwarded to GACC. Once GACC gives a nod to it, we can legally export the corn to China. The corn has been considered as legitimate goods in China’s border trade. We expect to finalize that process in September this year,” U Min Khaing quoted in his sayings.

The SPS Protocol (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Protocol) for biosecurity is a must for legitimate export to China, the main trade partner of agricultural products with Myanmar. Myanmar’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation and GACC have signed an agreement to legally ship corn to China.

Therefore, the export companies have been notified to submit EOIs to the working task force by 31 March 2022 in order to meet the SPS protocol requirements and file annual registration.

The protocols include the exporters must have a company or an institution which can handle the standard dryers or warehousing operation for exports or can strictly adhere to the agreements during the set period. Those who have experiences of the corn exports to China must also present the documents. The company has to comply with the rules and regulations set by China. Additionally, they need to adopt Good Agricultural Practice and contract farming in need to enhance the corn sector and ensure food safety. Working task force will scrutinize the EOIs in line with those protocols. Department of the Consumer Affairs and Myanmar Inspection and Testing Service (MITS), the authorized organization of the State, will conduct the survey to the dryers and warehouses as well.

The Department of Agriculture will send the lists of those companies which are found to be in accordance with the protocols.

Prior to the Thingyan holidays, the prices stood at K980-K1,000 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kg) and FOB prices were approximately US$320- 340 per tonne, according to the Yangon Region Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Bayintnaung). Myanmar exported 2.3 million tonnes of corn to foreign trade partners in the 2020-2021 financial year. The majority of them were sent to Thailand and the remaining went to China, India and Viet Nam.

At present, corn is cultivated in Shan, Kachin, Kayah and Kayin states and Mandalay, Sagaing and Magway regions. The country produces 2.5-3 million tonnes of corn every year.—NN/GNLM